Food Friday: Sweet Relish

My mom gave me a huge bag of some of her over grown cucumbers that are perfect for making relish. I finally got around to making a batch this week...and only used up about half of the cucumbers. I haven't a clue what to do with the other half....I certainly don't need to make anymore sweet relish...20 pints is more than enough to last us for the year or so and then some. I may have to give it away as gifts for every occasions....oh I just had an idea, Halloween treats! Won't all the neighbour kids love me! I can see their faces now.....

Don't these look delicious?

I used my mom's recipe, I haven't a clue if she made it up, if it was passed down to her, or if she got it out of a recipe book. But here it is

Sweet Relish - makes 17-20 pints

17 cups ground cucumber(about 50 cucumbers)
4 cups ground onion(about 8 large)
2 cups ground green pepper(about 4)
1 cup ground red pepper(about 2)
5 cups ground cabbage and/or cauliflower
6 cups ground green tomatoes (about 10 large)

Brine
9 cups sugar
3 tbsp mustard seed
1 1/2 tbsp celery seed
2 tsp turmeric
6 cups cider vinegar
3 cups water
green food colouring(optional)

Method 1
Mix all veggies together, sprinkle with 3/4 cup salt and let stand over night. Drain and rinse.
Combine brine ingredients and add to veggies. Bring to a boil and boil for 5-10 minutes. Pour into sterilized jars and process for 5 minutes after bath comes to a boil.

Method 2
Mix all ingredients together. Bring to a boil and boil for 1 hour. Pour into sterilized jars and process for 5 minutes after bath comes to a boil.


P.S. Don't forget to leave a comment to be entered into my Random Giveaway! Click here for details.

Making the effort

Wow, I can't believe how time gets away on me. I had intentions of doing at least two posts a week after I introduced my Random Giveaway, but that has yet to happen. It's not that I haven't thought about things to blog about, it's simply that I have been busy and not in my sewing/crafty mode. You see I have been super busy canning everything from peaches to salsa to relish....the list goes on and on and on. I realized today while I was high up on a ladder picking crab apples in my back yard to make into apple cider and crab apple slush, that all that I have been canning these past few weeks are also my creations, and since this blog is dedicated to all that I have created, all that I am creating and all that I will create, my canning creations deserve a spot here too. So once a week I plan on posting something that I have canned, pictures and recipe will be included.

I am always stumbling upon fabulous websites with great ideas, tutorials, free patterns and other such goodies. So I was thinking one day that I wanted to make some regular posts to share these fabulous sites with all of you.

So this is what you will have to look forward to in the future...

Tutorial Tuesdays
Wednesday's Wonderful Web finds
Food Fridays

I will try to be as diligent as possible to make these posts every week, along with my own creations of course.


p.s. don't forget to leave a comment to be entered into my Random Give-away. Click here for give-away details.

I'm featured in another giveaway.

You really need to go on over to Jabbering Jessi. She is giving away stuff all month. It's really very exciting! Tonnes of great things up for grabs...including my reusable snack bags and a sandwich wrap(click here to see my give away). So head on over and see all that there is to see!

P.S. Don't forget to leave a comment to be entered into my Random Give Away! Click here for details.

Cuddly Creatures

Have you been officially introduced? No? Well let me introduce you to some cuddly friends of mine.

Meet Felicity Kitty. Felicity is sweet and sensible, but has a bit of wild side to her. She loves to travel and see all that there is to see.

This is Barry Bear. Barry is a lovable soul who really just needs to be held. He is sure to become your very best friend and will keep all of your secrets.

Marty Stubinsky is a crazy sort. He comes to us from outer space and loves to talk. If you hold him close you might just hear him speaking his martian gibberish.

In comes Speedy Blue. Speedy is a curious dog. He loves a good mystery and would make an excellent companion for anyone who likes to explore.

Ms. Frissel is a bit of a scatterbrain at times, but really she is a brilliant little bunny. It is hard for her to sit still for very long and tends to bound around.

Sassy Cassy once lived up north with the other polar bears, but she decided to migrate south in hopes of finding the perfect cuddly companion. Do you know anyone who would love to cuddle up with her super soft fur?

Curtis Cat is a macho cat, but don't let that fool you, he is dependable and has quite the soft spot for kiddies who need cheering.

Last but certainly not least, is Dusty Dog. Dusty is trouble, he looks innocent enough, but left alone for very long and who knows the kind of trouble he will get into. It is best to take him with you on all your adventures, just to keep an eye on him and honestly he will keep you smiling the entire time.

I love all my cuddly friends. They are super soft and just right for little ones to carry around with them where every they go. Maybe you know someone who is in need of a one of a kind cuddly creature. A cuddly creature that is bound to be their best friend for years to come. If you do, simply head on over to my Etsy shop and you can adopt one.



P.S. Don't forget to leave a comment to be entered into my Random Giveaway, for details click here.

My Totally Random Give Away

This give-away is now closed. The magic number(57) of comments has been reached! Thank you all!

I've been wanting to do a different kind of give-away for a while now. I sometimes lay awake at night thinking about different ways to do this give-away. And I think that I have finally come up with a plan, something that is really different.

So here's the deal. This Random give-away will run from September 5th until November 30th. Why so long you ask? Well, read on my friends and you will figure it out. To enter this give-away, you must make a comment on my blog at any time on any post(including this one) between now and November 30th. You can comment as many times as you like, but only one comment per post per person. I love to hear feedback from my readers, however if you have nothing clever to comment about, you may simply leave a comment to tell me what your favorite item in my Etsy shop is. This is a must! For your comment to qualify you must tell me what your favorite item is(every time you comment), and please be specific(colour, pattern etc). If your profile is private, please leave a way for me to reach you(blog or email address), if I can't reach you, you can't win.

So what is it that you are entering to win? Good question! You are entering for your chance to win your favorite item in my Etsy shop! I will be adding more items regularly so keep checking to see what there is. So if you love more than one thing, each time you comment list a different item, but if you really want a specific item keep telling me.

So how will the winner be chosen? Another good question. I have already chosen a number X, so when X number of comments is reached, that person will be the winner...make sense? For example, if the number is 20(which I assure you it is not), then the person who writes the 20th comment will win whatever they listed as their favorite item in that comment. Now if for some reason I do not have X number of comments on my blog by Nov 30th, I will be forced to use the usual and boring random.org as a back up plan. So it is to your advantage to continue to comment, either you push the number of comments up to number X or to give you multiple entries for the backup plan. Got it? Good

Now for the bonus! Everybody loves a bonus. To earn up to three bonus surprises you must do any or all of the following

1. Become a follower of my blog(if you are already a follower you already are eligible for one bonus).
2. Put my give away button(grab it on my side bar) on your blog and leave a comment that you did so.
   
3. Blog about my Random Give-Away and leave a comment that you did so and the blog address where I can find it.

Do one, get one bonus, do all three and get three bonuses! YEAH!

So are you ready for this totally random fun?



This give-away is now closed. The magic number(57) of comments has been reached! Thank you all!